Packing apparatuses including a sealing mechanism to affix a tape on a cardboard box, which is transported in a state where flaps are folded in and closed, to seal the lid of the cardboard box are known in the art, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-20027.
The sealing mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-20027 first affixes a tape on a side surface of the cardboard box that is arranged on the downstream side with respect to the transportation direction, then affixes the tape on the folded-in flaps that form the lid of the cardboard box, and finally affixes the tape on a side surface that is arranged on the upstream side with respect to the transportation direction. When the sealing mechanism affixes the tape on the cardboard box, a pressing member of the sealing mechanism exerts, on the cardboard box, pressing force that presses the tape against the cardboard box so that the tape is caused to be in intimate contact with the cardboard box.